As above, Lego has always had instructions...and like most it seems I;m not alone in building the box models first and then storing it with the rest of the Lego in a plastic bin. (With a large white cotton sheet inside that wraps around all the lego. Makes clearing it up dead easy as you just wrap it back up and slide back into the bin)
The only model I made back up and kept on a shelf was the backhoe model:(not my picture)
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Leatherman or Swiss Army Knife
Air Rifle
Black Widow Catapult
20 Bensons
Some solvents and a paper bag
Everything today's 4 year old could want (note to self must stop reading the DM).
The thing I dislike about modern Lego is that the sets are based around building the thing that is pictured on the box.
What you do is get the odd proper set as a fancy present for birthdays/xmas/whatever, and then every so often get a job lot of random bricks off eBay to just build stuff with.
Bikes and lego have saved my life more times than I care to think about over the past few years. Bikes when it's sunny, lego when it's not, small boy = sorted.
I got a fishing rod when I was 4 from my parents and a small blunt pocket knife from my grandad. We did live in Snowdonia mind next to a beautiful lake.
Whats your budget?
Who is this boy in relation to you? Son, nephew, godson etc. (Informs how special it might be)
It's got to be an Islabike, if you can afford it. With one of those in the garage you're sorted, whenever I ask my 4-yr old what he want't to do it's either "BMX track!" or "Mountainbiking in the woods to ride singletrack and do "big jumps'!" Result.
Note - he started on a scooter bike at 2, a CNOC 14 at 3 and a CNOC 16 at 4 so there's been a bit of progression, I didn't just get him a bike and push him off
As opposed to what?Speaking as someone who built this..
That's Technic.
As above, Lego has always had instructions...
That's, err, Technic.
This is the sort of Lego I remember - yes you could make the thing on the box, but as I said earlier, the blocks were much more generic so you could be inspired by the pictures, follow instructions or just go freestyle and make something. I remember making houses (lots of houses), bridges, cars, windmills, castles, allsorts.
[img] http://www.referenced.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/oldlegobox.jp g" target="_blank">
You can buy bags of second hand Lego by the kilo on eBay. Cheaper than the kits and in my experience you get a great random selection of bits that will encourage imagination. Lego is hard to beat as an open ended toy.
Oh yeah thats right the old stuff didn't have instructions did it: 🙄
1236 Garage with box and instruction from 1955
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doesnt [s]he[/s]you need a niche bike yet?he will grow into it and you will need to know its safe for him
Oh yeah thats right the old stuff didn't have instructions did it:
I said
you could be inspired by the pictures, [b]follow instructions[/b] or just go freestyle and make something
I never said there weren't instructions, I said the blocks were generic enough to allow imagination to run riot.
Can I see your 🙄 and raise you 😛
Ah, I see what you're saying now. Lego, it used to be shit (I had that set). Then they made clever bricks which let you do really creative things. SNOT revolutionised what you could do with Lego.
But if you want to harken back to halcyon LEGOland days, we've still got Duplo for that sort of thing so it's all good.
20 Bensons
That's a bit irresponsible. Start them off on Benson Lights.
That's a great site for kids gifts. I think I got walkie talkies for my 5yr old nephew.
johndoh - Member
The thing I dislike about modern Lego is that the sets are based around building the thing that is pictured on the box.
Cougar - ModeratorAs opposed to what?
Speaking as someone who built this...
... last month I can assure you that they always did. The set contains instructions for a main and a secondary model. Imagination not included.
Now compare that to the modern F1 car set. Loads of custom pieces which are no use anywhere else.
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Some of the small kits are even worse:
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Go back a few years and that would have been made from about 30 generic bricks instead of about 10 preshaped ones. 🙁
seadog101 - MemberEnd of.
seconded 😀
Quad bike or drum kit.
Yeah, you could never build anything else with that 42000 set.
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But here you go then, problem solved.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/LEGO-6177-Basic-Bricks-Deluxe/dp/B000T6XNS6
If you can't find a use for the ace new shapes in LEGO then I suggest its you that lacks imagination.
God. Stw argument over Lego... 🙄
To the OP,
Lego
Transformers
Power Rangers megazords
Cheap tablet (the 35quid ones on Amazon)
Water guns
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Some of the small kits are even worse:Go back a few years and that would have been made from about 30 generic bricks instead of about 10 preshaped ones.
But every one of those bits could still be used for something other than its original kit. Looking at it, yeah there's some bits you couldn't get in the 80s but they're all equivalent to stuff you could- that kit would have been a bit more angular but otherwise the same.
People complain about imagination but frankly if you can't take modern lego and build something just as stupid as we used to, it's you that lacks imagination. All our space stations were made out of castles, my last spaceship was a pirate ship hull with bodywork off old blue space lego, and rocket motors bolted to the top and bottom. And it was ****ing [i]awesome. [/i]
gonzy - Memberit was all about transformers when my lad turned 4....so we bought him optimus prime and bumblebee.
Christ, to think it must be 25 years since I spent [i]months[/i] saving up to buy Jazz - only to find it was nigh on impossible to transform him so that he worked as a car. The front wheels just wouldn't line up. Such crushing disappointment, and now the wounds have re-opened damn you!
Ideal present combo for someone else's kids:
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plus
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plus
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8 hours of solid uninterupted Dad time, pick a task and spend the day with your son, anything else inc lego is bullsh1t.
